How One Deformity Made Tina Fey Successful

Tina Fey is well known for her trademark glasses, but the 30 Rock star has another distinctive facial feature: a scar on her left cheek.

In Bossypants, her new best-selling book, Fey says that when she was a child, a stranger approached and cut her face. While she skips the gory details, she does explain how some people still can’t help but rudely ask about the blemish. “People who ask about my scar within one week of knowing me have invariably turned out to be egomaniacs of average intelligence or less.” Fey especially doesn’t like when people who can tell they have made her uncomfortable try to explain that they find her scar beautiful.

For those of us without an award-winning sense of humor like Fey’s, all of these nosy questions would be enough to give a person a complex! That’s probably why so many turn to scar removal surgery to regain a normal appearance. Overall, two-thirds of RealSelf reviewers say their scar removal procedures were worth it. “I feel better about myself and I’m not longer embarrassed,” comments Odyssey1.

As for Fey, don’t expect her to get the procedure anytime soon. In fact, she credits her success to the scar. Everyone was extra nice to her after the incident, overcompensating to make her feel special in spite of the scar. “I accepted all the attention at face value and proceeded through life as if I really were extraordinary,” she says. With a hit TV show and the #1 book in the country, it looks like the scar really worked for her!